Sustainability Primer: Fostering Long-Term Change to ...€¦ · 2 Sustainability Primer CADCA’s National Coalition Institute, developed in 2002 by an act of Congress, serves as

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of AmericaNational Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute

Sustainability Primer:Fostering Long-TermChange to CreateDrug-Free Communities

2 Sustainability Primer

CADCA’s National Coalition Institute, developed in 2002 by an act of Congress, serves as a center for training, technical assistance, evaluation, research and capacity building for community anti-drug coalitions throughout the United States.

In 2005, the Institute started a series of primers to help coali-tions navigate the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). TheSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services, developed the SPF for use by community coalitions in their efforts to reduce substance abuse at the population level. Each primer is designed both to stand alone and to work with the others in the series. While we have focusedon the inclusion of sustainability in all elements of the SPF, any community coalition can adapt the materials in this primer to its own needs.

CADCA’s Institute designed this primer to provide anti-drug coalitions with a basic understanding of sustainability and its importance in achieving long-term reductions in rates of sub-stance abuse. Pay close attention to identifying what initiativesyour community must continue and which resources are neces-sary to help you develop an effective sustainability plan. Coali-tions should ensure that they have enough staying power to seethe results of their efforts to create population-level change.

You will find additional information on sustainability, the SPF’sprimary components and all of the published primers on the Institute’s Web site, www.coalitioninstitute.org.

Arthur T. DeanMajor General, U.S. Army, Retired Chairman and CEO CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)

Contents

INTRODUCTION 4Drug-Free Communities Support Program 4Strategic Prevention Framework 5Sustainability and the SPF 6A word about cultural competence as it

relates to sustainability 9

CHAPTER 1: THINK ABOUT COALITION SUSTAINABILITY 10

CHAPTER 2: SUSTAIN YOUR COALITION’S VITALITY 14Sustaining the effort: Maintaining involvement 15Sustaining the operation: Funding

administrative expenses 17

CHAPTER 3: DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING THE RESOURCES 20

Maintaining external ties 20Maintaining the change 21

CHAPTER 4: SUSTAINING ACROSS COALITION LIFE-CYCLES 24

Eliminating perceptual barriers to resource development 25

Developing a diversified portfolio 27Recognizing and meeting community needs 31Organizing for effective resource development 33

CHAPTER 5: PUTTING IT TOGETHER: PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY 34

Checklist for developing and implementinga sustainability plan 38

CONCLUSION 39

A WORD ABOUT WORDS 40

GLOSSARY 41

CADCA’s National Coalition Institute 3


INTRODUCTION

Drug-Free Communities Support ProgramIn 1997, Congress enacted the Drug-Free Communities SupportProgram (DFC) to provide grants to community-based coalitions toserve as catalysts for multisector participation to reduce local sub-stance abuse problems. By 2007, nearly 1,300 local coalitions re-ceived funding to work on two main goals:

•Reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, amongadults by addressing the factors in a community that increasethe risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors thatminimize the risk of substance abuse.

•Establish and strengthen collaboration among communities,private nonprofit agencies, and federal, state, local and tribalgovernments to support the efforts of community coalitionsto prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth.

SustainabilityWhat you need to know:• What must be sustained *• What resources are required *• How to identify resources in your community• The essential benefits your coalition brings to the communityWhat your community needs to do:• Formalize roles within the coalition for sustainability planning and fund

raising (e.g., a specific committee or task force on coalition sustainability)• Incorporate discussion of sustainability and current and future human, so-

cial and material resource needs into every stage of coalition work• Determine what funding strategies will best serve your coalition *• Identify and recruit potential partners and stakeholder groups within and

outside your community that might connect with your coalition’s missionand provide support for your strategies *

The products your community needs to create:• Case statements of the value and resource needs of coalition initiatives

and strategies, as well as of the coalition as a whole *• An action plan to contact and present to potential partners *• A sustainability plan that matches coalition strategies to resource

development approaches and sets benchmarks for progress in achieving sustainability

* See the six elements of a sustainability plan in the checklist on page 38.


SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention FrameworkThis is one in a series of primers based on the Strategic PreventionFramework (SPF).1 CADCA utilizes the SPF to assist communitycoalitions in developing the infrastructure needed for community-based, public health ap-proaches that can lead toeffective and sustainable re-ductions in alcohol, tobaccoand other drug (ATOD) use andabuse. The elements shown inFigure 1 include:

Assessment. Collect data todefine problems, resourcesand readiness within ageographic area to addressneeds and gaps.

A word about words

What is your goal? Your aim? Your objective? Perhaps more importantly,what is the difference? At times, theterms seem interchangeable. Often, thedifference depends on who is fundingyour efforts.To minimize confusion, we have added a chart (see page 40) that highlightsterms often used to describe the sameor similar concepts.

Figure 1. The Strategic Prevention Framework

1. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) developed the SPF to facilitate implementation of prevention programming.


Capacity. Mobilize and/or build capacity within a geographic areato address needs.

Planning. Develop a comprehensive strategic approach thatincludes policies, programs and practices creating a logical,data-driven plan to address problems identified in assessment.

Implementation. Implement evidence-based prevention strate-gies, programs, policies and practices.

Evaluation. Measure the impact of the SPF and the implementa-tion of strategies, programs, policies and practices.

Sustainability and the SPFThis primer focuses on the process that the Institute suggestscommunity coalitions use to develop sustainability as they workthrough the elements of the SPF. SAMHSA lists it as a cross-cutting element of the SPF. Likewise, we believe that sustainabilityaffects all aspects of coalition building and include it as one of our15 core competencies for achieving community change. Thesecore competencies—which research indicates are present in effec-tive coalitions—align closely with the SPF (see Figure 2 on page 7).

The SPF process fosters collaboration by enabling individuals tobetter understand the mission, vision, strategic plan and their rolein helping the coalition achieve its goal of a safe, healthy and drug-free community. Coalitions that merely conduct a string of activi-ties that do not fit into a strategic plan perpetuate membersworking in isolation, because no one understands how their contri-bution relates to the larger whole.

This primer seeks to answer three key questions (see chart onpage 4):

WHAT does your coalition need to know about sustainability, andwhy is it of critical importance as you develop and implement acomprehensive community plan to reduce substance abuse?

WHAT does your coalition need to do to develop sustainability asit moves through the elements of the SPF?

WHAT products should you develop to ensure sustainability foryour initiatives and coalition?


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We encourage your coalition to think comprehensively, even if itcannot act comprehensively at the moment. Maintain a strongfocus on your community’s needs and avoid “borrowing” anothergroup’s sustainability plan. While you can incorporate ideas andconcepts from others to jump-start your own efforts, to make realchange in your community, custom design a plan that matchesyour area’s unique characteristics.

This primer builds on others in the series by laying out a frame-work and describing key considerations and action steps for coali-tions to include in their journey to sustainability. The remainder ofthis publication is organized into five chapters:

•Chapter 1 provides a definition and an orientation to the keyconcepts of coalition sustainability.

•Chapter 2 discusses approaches for maintaining the inner vitality of your coalition and applies these strategies to the critical task of continuing your coalition’s efforts and sustain-ing the coalition operation.

•Chapter 3 looks at how your coalition can maintain the exter-nal viability of its work by creating value-added and sustain-able impacts in the community.

•Chapter 4 zeros in on what people think when they discussprogram or coalition sustainability: the money! We put the development of financial and material resources in contextand discuss ways in which your coalition can build a solid and diverse portfolio of funding strategies.

•Chapter 5 connects the elements of “sustainability thinking,”discussing how it fits into the larger picture of the SPF frame-work and how to develop a sustainability plan tailored toyour coalition.

Learn more about the SPF

This primer focuses on sustainability and how to integrate the concept intoeach element of the SPF. You can learn more about the SPF from the Institute’s primer series and Web site, www.coalitioninstitute.org.Additional discussion of sustainability also is included in the Institute’sCapacity and Implementation primers.


A word about cultural competence as it relates to sustainability The relationship between sustainability and cultural competencedeserves special attention, because they need to be managedclosely and tend not to receive their fair share of attention. Bothshould be addressed at every stage of your coalition’s work—fromassessment through evaluation.

Fiscal worries can sometimes translate into short-term and shortsighted efforts to bring in resources—and may occur at the expense of culturally competent values and strategies. Guardagainst this, because you may find yourself gambling away yourcoalition’s effectiveness and credibility with cultural groups in your community. Approaches for ensuring sustainability in light of concerns for cultural competence include the following:

•Ask first. How are the different strategies under considerationaligned, or not, with the values of different groups in our com-munity? Note: Be sure to engage members of those groups inthese discussions.

•Let history be your guide. Many community groups can sharestories of how their cultural perspectives have been ignoredor misinterpreted. Take time to learn the history so yourcoalition does not undermine its sustainability by repeatingearlier mistakes.

•Work with culture, not against it. Remember, culture repre-sents a resource, not a burden. Building on your community’scultures can yield creative ideas for outreach and fund raising,resources for communications and space, and more. For exam-ple, hold activities in the cultural venues in the communities ofinterest with which your coalition interacts. You may find freeor low-cost space that meets community needs.


CHAPTER 1: THINKING ABOUT COALITIONSUSTAINABILITY

“Sustainability” is a term that we hear more and more often.Whether in talk about our natural environment or a new commu-nity program, the questions on the minds of many funders, leadersand community stakeholders are…

Does what you/we are doing make sense as a long-term strategy?

and…Can you/we keep this up?

In the context of running a specificinitiative or executing a compre-hensive strategy, we define sus-tainability as the likelihood of thatapproach continuing—especiallyafter initial funding ends. Sustain-ability in the context of coalitionwork is even more complex. Broadly stated, it is the ability of yourcoalition to maintain the human, social and material resourcesneeded to achieve your long-term goals for community change.This guarantees that your coalition can have ongoing vitality in itsinternal structure and process, and ensures viability of its strate-

gies in the community. The components of thisdefinition include:

Long-term goals for com-munity change. First,achieving significantchange in your communitytakes time. The conditionsthat foster substance useand abuse did not developovernight, and your coali-tion will not change themquickly. If you are seriousabout affecting the

Coalition sustainability:

The ability to maintain the human,social and material resourcesneeded to achieve your coalition’slong-term goals.

Sustainability planning for DFC grantees

While crafting a formal sustainability plan is a great idea for all coalitions, it is required ofcoalitions receiving DFC funding in years 3and 7 of their grant period. But do not waitthat long to develop a plan. Indeed, youshould be thinking of sustainability as youbegin to work through the elements of theSPF. Incorporate the tips presented through-out this primer and take note of the ideasyour coalition generates, and you will findthat the formal plan practically writes itself!


problem in a meaningful way, acknowledge that you are in it forthe long haul. It may take several years to enact the changes youidentify and realize the long-term effects. Much can—and likelywill—happen over the course of those years. Smart coalitions notonly get things done now, they also prepare for changes that canaffect coalition work in the foreseeable future.

Human resources. Your coalition’s internal vitality depends largelyon the skills, talents, experience and energies involved in your ac-tivities. Sustainability requires that your coalition be prepared forand cognizant of changes that can affect these critical resources:

•Some coalition members will leave their roles or their organiza-tions for new ones. Members’ responsibilities at their home organizations will shift, creating changes in availability and interest to focus on coalition work. As natural turnovers occurin local organizations, they will carry over into your member-ship; old members must be replaced and new ones broughtinto the fold.

•Likewise, your coali-tion will encounterchanges in leadershipbecause of expectedchanges in levels ofleader interest and inthe type of leadershiprequired as your group’s work evolves.

The Institute’s CapacityPrimer offers helpful tipson developing a strongmember base and solidleadership. As a coalitionfocused on sustainability,you need to recognizethat human resourcesmust be continuallydeveloped, renewedand replenished.

When should we start thinkingabout sustainability?

Many ask this question, but most alreadyknow the answer. Coalitions should startplanning for sustainability as soon as coali-tion formation and planning are under way.If you think of sustainability as a proactiveextension of having the resources to makechange and the strong capacity to use themwell, you will see why sustainability shouldbe incorporated early on in your process. As your coalition gets off the ground, you willneed to focus on membership and startupactivities. But once you are stable, do not get too comfortable!True sustainability does not come from agrant application every few years—it growsfrom a strategic orientation to your coalition’swork and ongoing attention to the buildingblocks that make up your coalition’s vitalityand viability.


Social resources. Your coalition’s external viability depends on the degree to which you remain well connected to your surround-ing community and continue to serve an important niche in the“ecology” as it relates to the problem of substance abuse. Yourgroup must continue to develop social resources—strong connec-tions to and relationships with stakeholders inside and outsideyour community.

•The community system affecting the issues will change as key local agencies alter their own programs and policies inpursuit of their organizational missions. New organizationsmay crop up, and some may fold. School systems and govern-ment departments may reorganize to accommodate changesin the community and seek cost-effective operational strate-gies for their work. Grassroots organizations will experiencetheir own successes, setbacks and changes in leadership. Allof these changes affect who in the community is ready andable to partner.

•The connections among your community and others also willchange. One growing trend indicates a shift toward regional ap-proaches to development and service delivery. Your coalitionmay find itself with a broader range of available partners—butalso a wider focus and range of concerns.

Material resources. The levels and types of material resourcesavailable for your coalition’s work will depend on the availability of various funding streams and perceptions about how substanceabuse prevention fits into community priorities.

•Available funding streams will change, bringing different requirements, resource levels and opportunities.

•The landscape of issues that your community faces willchange, too. As part of this, priorities may shift. Substanceabuse may be a major focus of attention in your community—or it may receive some attention but be overshadowed by otherpressing community needs. Either way, expect levels of interestand urgency around substance abuse prevention to change.

In short, true sustainability means ensuring that your coalition cansuccessfully navigate a changing landscape, secure resources and


hold itself together long enough to realize the fruits of your workand achieve your ultimate goals.

Maintaining the internal vitality and the external viability of yourcoalition’s work does not happen easily or on its own. But, withfocus and planning, your coalition can make wise choices thatwill maximize your odds for long-term success.

“Tough love” about coalition sustainability

Coalitions often are squeamish about engaging in sustainability planning, and many put off thinking about it or crafting plans for ongoing funding untildeadlines loom and/or existing grants are set to disappear. Let us be clear:A coalition not thinking about sustainability on some level may be unworthy of the community’s investment of time and resources.

Why take this hard-line approach to sustainability? Recall that communitychange will take time. If your coalition means business about addressing the problem of substance abuse in your community, you owe it to your members, supporters, partners and champions to be around to see things through.When coalitions fold before they have accomplished their goals, they leavemore than just unfinished agendas: They often create a feeling of futilityabout those community issues, bitterness about wasted time and a sense of jadedness about the potential of collaborative work. If this is the ultimateoutcome of your coalition’s efforts, then your legacy may be to reduce thecapacity of your community to solve the problems of substance abuse.Opportunities and energies are precious commodities in any community.Do not let your efforts go to waste.


CHAPTER 2: SUSTAINING YOUR COALITION’S VITALITY

How does one gauge the “internal vitality” of a coalition? Inessence, we are looking for two things:

1. The extent to which a coalition can sustain the efforts ofmembers and partners and continue to harness these towardthe larger goals of the coalition; and

2. The extent to which a coalition can maintain a functionalbase of operations by sustaining the core support roles andadministrative resources needed to keep the coalition’s workrunning smoothly.

Seven habits of highly sustainable coalitions

This primer presents ways to think about sustainability at different levels of yourcoalition’s strategy, operations and points in your activity cycles. However, thereare seven habits or “super skills” that cut across many of these components. Askyourself, to what extent does our coalition practice this? Where do opportunitiesexist to instill this habit and put it to work in our coalition’s efforts?1. Guard your capacity. Sustainability encompasses much more than

dollars. Your coalition’s capacity—its membership, relationships, leadershipand organizational strength—is like a goose that lays golden eggs. You haveto take care of the goose! Sadly, some coalitions fall into the routine of working to maintain collaboration at the expense of crucial components ofcapacity that led to their initial success. In facing new decisions, think abouthow they affect your coalition’s ability to work collaboratively. Are there creative opportunities for growth? Does a particular strategy or decision limit your capacity?

2. Track your progress. While evaluation is an essential component of acoalition’s process (see the Institute’s Evaluation Primer for more informa-tion), tracking your coalition’s general progress—even less formally—represents an extraordinarily powerful part of your sustainability tool kit. An ongoing sense of your group’s status relative to its goals helps you clearlyoutline what additional resources are needed and how quickly results can be achieved.

3. Focus on the goal. Substance abuse is complex and relates to other community and youth issues. Far too often, coalitions pursue strategies tan-gential to the main focus of their work, under the guise that they affect thesame population or relate to the core issues. Beware of these distractions!


Sustaining the effort: Maintaining involvement and energy While many coalitions hope that a hefty grant will be the end oftheir sustainability worries, in reality you need the commitmentof many people and partners to your coalition’s work over a longperiod of time, and you need to know that this interest runsdeeper than the money brought in by a grant. Key strategies forthinking about and sustaining the effort behind your coalition’swork include:

In the end you have only ONE goal: to reduce or eliminate substance abuseproblems in your community.

4. Seek local support first. Smart coalitions know that the majority of resources—and the ones you can best rely on—will always be right at home.A “local first” approach means that your coalition will create more opportuni-ties to engage partners, exercise a broader and more creative scope of funding options and have local buy-in to demonstrate support of any externalfunding for which you do apply. See the table on page 32 for a sense of therange of strategies that can be used to raise resources locally.

5. Always add value. Your coalition functions because key stakeholders inthe community see value in having a collaborative venue. Look for ways thatvarious strategies to raise funds and develop partnerships can add value fordiverse groups in the community. The table on page 32 provides food forthought on how to see funding strategies through a different lens.

6. Tell a story. All too often, coalitions get so bogged down in doing the workthat they lose track of how to talk about their contributions. All coalitionsneed to make sure that they continuously spread the word about their effortsand impacts. What does storytelling have to do with sustainability? Develop-ing your coalition’s story gives you a succinct way to communicate with po-tential funders and partners about your aims. Stories resonate and becausethey connect with our emotions, they have a more memorable quality thanmere facts and figures. Finally, stories build capacity—by promoting solidar-ity and a shared sense of the coalition’s past, present and future amongcoalition members themselves.

7. Keep learning. Smart coalitions recognize that there is always room togrow and more to know about preventing and combating community prob-lems. By keeping an open mind and a learning orientation, these coalitionsbecome more resilient and better able to adapt to changing conditions.


�Build and maintain momentum with incremental goals and“small wins.” During your coalition’s assessment and planningphases, you identified a broad range of targets and several ambitious goals for addressing conditions that facilitate sub-stance abuse in your community. Make sure that as you createyour road map for change, you break these goals into smallermini-goals. As your coalition achieves “small wins,” a sense of productivity and accomplishment, greater commitment bymembers and partners, and a reputation for your coalition asa group that “gets things done” will follow.

�Use the power of “legitimate peripheral participation.” This describes how groups can revitalize their membership bycreating opportunities for participants at multiple levels andthe means for less-central participants/partners to fluidly become more central. The result: a deep bench from which your coalition can draw. Here are the keys to this:

•Create many ways to participate.•Enable different levels of participation. “Peripheral” participa-

tion means that you create opportunities for low-intensity andlow-commitment involvement in coalition activities so thatpeople can participate in ways that work for them.

•Ensure that all participants are viewed as legitimate—regard-less of their level of involvement. Commitment to your coalitionwill grow when peripheral members see that the coalition hon-ors and accepts them as genuine contributors, even if they arenot currently part of the coalition’s “inner circle.”

�Know when the time comes for a particular initiative to “growup” and move on. A coalition’s overall energy for change canwane if it settles into a pattern of operating one or more static initiatives or programs designed to recur year after year. Re-member: A coalition is not a program. While it can make sensefor a coalition to take ownership of developing and seeding aparticular initiative or intervention, maintaining these initiativeslimits your coalition’s ability to be agile and to develop new part-nerships and strategies for change. This saps the vitality of yourcoalition and constrains your ability to add value above and beyond the work of individual organizations in the community.


•Think of these initiatives as teenagers: We love them and areinvested in their success, but we know they should not live withus forever. Have a frank conversation with your coalition aboutwhen it is time for a particular initiative to grow up. Identify asa group whether the initiative can be spun off into a stand-alone entity, continued under the ownership of a partner organ-ization or evolved into something else entirely.

�Overcome issue “silos.” Energy for change wanes when com-munity issues are sliced too thin, dividing human and materialresources in too many ways. While your coalition needs to stayfocused on your main goal (see Habit #3 on pages 14–15), youalso can free up energy by seeking connections with groupsworking on related issues. Do not feel that your coalition has totake on all the problems of the community, but partner with oth-ers to find ways to reduce redundant efforts and find jointstrategies that benefit everyone’s interests.

Sustaining the operation: Funding administrative expensesOne of the challenges facing many coalitions as they grow theirstrategies: How do we secure ongoing funding for the administra-tive overhead or core functions of running the coalition? This problem emerges, in large part, from trends in grant making:Foundations and other grant makers have moved away from funding administration and organizational infrastructure on an ongoing basis. Simply put, most grant makers are not interested in funding operations—instead, they see themselves as investing in impacts or opportunities. They want to show concrete resultsand clearly communicate to their constituents how their funds produced those results. In the end, what you do—the community-level strategies and interventions spawned by your coalition—and not the existence of your coalition will “move the needle” onsubstance abuse issues.

This dynamic puts coalitions and stand-alone nonprofits in a“Catch-22” situation: The work that gets funding requires organiza-tional infrastructure. Or, to quote one coalition leader, “It’s hard tomake community change when we’re worried about keeping thelights on.”


This will continue to be a struggle in the nonprofit sector, butstrategies exist that can help your coalition think about and maintain administrative and operational support:

�Keep it lean. It bears emphasis that throughout the process ofdeveloping ongoing support for administrative costs, you willhave an easier time if your coalition operates in a lean manner.Some coalitions make the mistake of building more infrastruc-ture than they can reasonably support on an ongoing basis. Thishurts your coalition in several ways. First, heavy organizationalstructure has a way of becoming “reality,” i.e., while coalition operational support needs are often fluid, the coalition’s staffstructure can quickly be perceived as static and solid. It is hardto rethink true infrastructure needs, especially when the liveli-hoods of good people passionate about substance abuse pre-vention are on the line. Second, it can (ironically) have the effectof making your coalition less robust by encouraging staff to takeon too great a role themselves rather than leveraging partner-ship opportunities to get the tasks done. No matter what, youwill want to ensure that your organizational overhead falls in linewith your coalition’s activity level.

�Think flexibly about resource needs. Your coalition’s options for supporting operations will expand or contract with how creatively you organize your work. Plan for roles and functions,not specific positions. Trained, dedicated staff or outside facili-tators can be a terrific help when your coalition can afford them.But if it cannot, be creative about completing the work. Considerthe following:

•Volunteers and interns—share the vital work of the coalitionwith community members old and young with passion for preventing substance abuse. Involve students and retirees and you will benefit from their tremendous energy and invitefresh perspectives.


•Shared staff—many agencies and organizations find them-selves struggling to support their staff rosters. If your coalitiondoes not need or cannot afford a full- or part-time staff mem-ber, find out if any partner agencies can allocate a percentageof someone’s time to coalition management—even five hours aweek for monitoring progress and maintaining communica-tions can be a big help.

�Consider adding a percentage of administrative overhead tobudgets and funding requests. Funders do not like supportingoverhead, but some organizations are successful in gaining atleast partial support for overhead expenses by documentingthem as a reasonable surcharge of conducting an initiative.To make a case for this, you must know (1) what your opera-tions cost and what fraction of these costs other sources may cover and (2) what percentage of your coalition’s effortsor strategy a particular initiative comprises. If you can show a strong and reasonable link, you are more likely to persuadefunders that the requested overhead support represents the“cost of doing business.”

How long do we need to be around, and in what form?

Flexibility is one of the critical characteristics in fostering coalition sustainabil-ity—and even more powerful when combined with a healthy perspective of whatyour coalition needs to be and look like to achieve its goals.Sustainability does not necessarily mean “forever and ever.” It means “longenough.” Maintain your coalition in the right forms at the right levels for the right amount of time to achieve your goals. Many long-standing coalitions findcontinued benefit in coordination and networking efforts. Others form to attainspecific objectives, achieve them and either shift their self-definition or disbandto form new groups around other issues.Think about your coalition’s goals and how they fit into the larger community picture, then work to support the group at the intensity level that will allow you to attain those goals.


CHAPTER 3: DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING THE RESOURCES

In addition to sustaining the efforts of members and staff insidethe coalition, your coalition needs to continually interact with itssurrounding environment to make sure that it and the changes itfosters remain viable over the long run.

Maintaining external tiesEffective coalitions function well because they cultivate and main-tain strong connections with organizations and individuals repre-senting key sectors of their community. Coalitions must ensureclose ties with the community, or conflict may arise. Here are keystrategies for maintaining strong ties and presence in your com-munity and beyond:

�Learn the language of value. Many coalitions and nonprofit organizations are much better at describing of community needthan communicating the value of what they do. Moreover, whenthey do think about their value, they frame it in terms that theycare about. Your coalition will benefit when you learn to thinkabout how your work creates value in addressing needs and issues, and develop skills in specifically connecting your contri-butions to the perspectives, interests and priorities of multipleaudiences. Recognize the diversity of potential “selling points”connecting different stakeholders to your efforts. As your coali-tion gears up for an organized effort—whether fund raising, partnership development or general communication and dis-semination—map out your audiences and discuss the followingas a group:

•How are we making a difference?•To whom are we conveying this information (i.e., which person,

organization, stakeholder, funder, etc.)?•Why would—and should—this person, organization, stakeholder,

funder, etc. care?

�Get the word out early and often. Find channels to communi-cate your coalition’s efforts and successes with key stakehold-ers and the general public. If you want to maintain interest,


energy and awareness about your coalition, you cannot afford to fall silent to the larger community. Trust the fact that peoplewant to know about your great work, and the more activity theyhear about, the more interest there will be in supporting your activities. Specific strategies can include:

•News releases and press conferences marking successes ordevelopments in your coalition’s agenda (e.g., releasing yourassessment report or strategic plan)

•Regular notices in the community section of your local paper,including updates about the coalition, mini-features on coali-tion members or partners, or short pieces about substanceabuse in your community

•A coalition Web site or blog: These are easy and inexpensive to set up and maintain, so coalitions have little reason not tohave a Web presence

•Newsletters (electronic and/or print)•Direct mailings

Maintaining the changeThere are two primary considerations when thinking about how to sustain change:

1. How deep/lasting are the changes that our strategies can create? Are we including enough high-leverage change strategies?

2. What are the operative forces that might actively or passively oppose or undo our work?

Consider that some changes are more durable and sustainablethan others. Think about this in terms of where the change “lives.”If the focus lives within individual youth (e.g., toward greater dis-approval of binge drinking), the change can be positive, but mustbe made for many youth and repeated year after year. On theother hand, if you focus change at the community level (i.e., communitywide norms about binge drinking, greater enforcementof liquor laws affecting minors or larger policy changes that facili-tate these), you have a broader reach and set in motion changesthat can often take on their own life.


This is one bottom-line reason we emphasize that coalitions arenot programs and should avoid running them. Every change effort—whether for individuals, organizations, or whole systems or communities—is like a lever, as illustrated in Figure 3. Longerlevers create longer-lasting change. While your coalition will proba-bly use multiple strategies to achieve its goals, it is essential to incorporate long-lever strategies in the mix.

A second consideration in sustaining community-level impacts isunderstanding that opposing forces can undermine or undo yourchanges, even after they seem to be institutionalized or adoptedas community policies and norms. As a coalition bringing togethermultiple perspectives, one of your most valuable functions is touse others’ eyes, ears and brainpower to identify risks to your ini-tiatives and the changes they create, and organize to counteractthese risks.

Figure 3. Leverage for Change


Geographic issues in coalition sustainability

Rural community coalitions face different issues when it comes to sustainabilitythan their urban counterparts. Here are some potential differences to consider:

Urban communities

•Often receive a higher profile fortheir issues and a greater share ofattention and funder focus.

•Sometimes have more wealth.•Tend to have more influential

municipal partners and lessinvolvement of county government.

•Generally have more serviceprovider organizations, meaningmore potential partners, and morepolitics to juggle.

Rural communities

•Often receive less externalfunding, but sometimes haveaccess to different fundingsources than are available tourban communities.

•Likely have less overall wealth—but as a result, develop a strongsense of self-reliance andcreative approaches to makingdo with little.

•Tend to rely more heavily oncounty or regional-level structures rather than on localtownship or village governments.This means that more cross-community collaboration isrequired to build an integratedand sustainable plan.

•Have fewer organizations andservice providers—meaning thatevery partnership really counts.


CHAPTER 4: SUSTAINING ACROSS COALITION LIFE CYCLES

It is no mistake that this chapter appears more than halfwaythrough this primer. While money and other material resourcesare essential to executing effective strategies, securing and main-taining these resources must be built on a solid foundation. When a coalition approaches resource development from a well-grounded sense of its value, with energetic involvement frommembers and partners and with a shared understanding of what it needs to accomplish, it is in a better position to identify appro-priate funding and partnership opportunities and make convincingcases for community support.

An effective approach to developing and sustaining material resources involves:

•Identifying and elimi-nating perceptual barri-ers to going afterresources.

•Developing a clearsense of the specific resource needs of yourcoalition’s strategiesand pursuing a diversi-fied funding portfolio tomeet those needs.

•Knowing the con-stituents for your variousfunding strategies andmeeting their bottomline.

•Creating organizational supports to incorporate resource developmentas an ongoing part ofthe coalition’s strategicthinking.

Resources are more than money

Your coalition must identify the support required to maintain the effort and impact.In some cases, it is easier to secure non-cash resources. For example, another nonprofit may not be able to help you with money but can lend you vehicles.Some coalitions get rent-free space fromtheir local congregations. A coalition usually needs the following non-financial resources:

• Supplies•Space•Personnel/time•Transportation•Technology•Community (print/electronic)•Technical assistance


Eliminating perceptual barriers to resource developmentDeveloping sustainable resources takes effort, organization andsavvy. Some of the greatest barriers to resource development donot stem from lack of inherent skills, but are grounded in percep-tions and attitudes that create psychological blocks to taking action.

Two of the most basic of these blocks are the fear of rejection andan aversion to “selling.” Nobody likes to be turned down, and as asociety we have a negative perception of people seen as too “self-promoting.” Sometimes we fear appearing conceited or oppor-tunistic. If these fears and perceptions constitute barriers to yourcoalition’s resource development efforts, consider:

•You will be turned down sometimes. No one gets everygrant for which they apply, and not every request to a donoris greeted with a smile and a check. In fact, one could arguethat if you are not getting rejections, you are not makingenough requests. Help improve your approval rate withthese tips:

— Meet as a coalition to review your tactics. Brainstormalternative ways to describe your work that may garner awarmer reception.

— Follow up rejections with questions to identify issues orsources of resistance. For example, “I would like to under-stand your concerns so that we might address them andwin your support next time. What could make our requestmore appealing?”

— Consider outside technical assistance to build capacity. Attend professional workshops on fund-raising strategies,hire a grant writer or ask professional contacts not embed-ded in your coalition’s work to lend a fresh eye to your request language and tell you what they find compellingabout your approach.


Table 1: Perceptual barriers to coalition resource development efforts

Thinking that blocksresource development

Thinking that opens up resourcedevelopment possibilities

Fear of competitive backlash

“Sure, we’d like to raise moremoney and bring in more vol-unteers—but so would ourmember organizations. Won’twe be in competition withthem?”

“Our coalition serves a different pur-pose than our member organizations,and our work is about facilitatingchanges that no member organiza-tion can do on its own. We’re notcompeting with their work—we’readding value to it!”

Myth of the zero-sum game

“There’s only so much to goaround—how can we ask thecommunity to support our workthat takes away from so manyother organizations and is-sues?”

“What are the win-win opportunities?If our work is meaningful, not only willthere be enough to go around, but wecan strengthen each other by findingsynergies—joint fund-raising cam-paigns, local business sponsor-ships....”

Resource-poor community

“Our community is resource-poor as it is... the funds justaren’t there.”

“Our community has a lot going for it—we need to think broadly about ‘assets’and consider all of the creative ways inwhich people pull together and makethings happen here.”

Fat grant syndrome

“We already have a big grant—won’t we be seen as greedy ifwe keep pursuing resources?”

“We do have a grant to accomplishcertain things, but we need a strongbase as well. We can connect withour community and make our grantmoney work harder if we create op-portunities for organizations,individuals, businesses and others toinvest in our work!”

Too new “We’re really just forming—isn’tit a little premature to expect alot of community support?”

“Sure, we don’t have results yet, butwe’ve done our homework and havea clear process and a plan thatshows where we’re heading. We’llstart with small requests, and growour donors as we grow our success!”

Too comfortable “Our funding continues for an-other year and a half—whenthat’s done, I’m sure we’ll getanother grant.”

“Times are uncertain—let’s show our value and build a base of localcommunity investment. Also, let’stake a look at where we plan to bein the next couple of years and seewhat kinds of partnerships andfunding strategies will position usfor the next phase.”


•Think of it as educating and inviting rather than selling. Yourcoalition does important work, and it is appropriate to shareyour enthusiasm and knowledge. At the same time, realizethat most of us want to make a positive difference. Show yourcoalition’s work as a possibility for making that difference inyour community, then you offer an opportunity for people tofulfill their goals, rather than pushing a product.

Beyond these, however, are several more subtle perceptual barri-ers to a productive resource development mind-set. Table 1 onpage 26 lists some of the other common thought processes thatcan block openness to developing and pursuing creative fundingstrategies, and proposes some alternatives your coalition can useto open up new possibilities.

Developing a diversified portfolioIn many ways, planning the investment of resources in your coalitionparallels planning for apersonal investment port-folio. Any stockbroker willtell you, you need to havea diverse array of invest-ments to achieve security.

Far too many coalitionsmake the mistake of rely-ing primarily on grantmonies to sustain them-selves. Not only is thisputting too many eggs inone basket, it is puttingthem in a very dangerousbasket. The nature of both federal and foundation funding is suchthat a particular group is very unlikely to achieve stable, ongoingsupport over a long period. Grant funding is highly competitive andfunders tend to spread the wealth and seek new and differentprojects and organizations to fund. Private foundations and fed-eral agencies, in particular, often are not just looking to find “whatworks,” they also like to seed innovation. Your coalition should innovate, but you want your strategies to be driven by what works

Is your coalition grant dependent?

Many coalitions form in response to an initialfunding opportunity. Any impetus to collabo-rate can be viewed as positive, but if this de-scribes your coalition, you will have to work tomake sure your coalition transitions to sus-tainability. The shared interest represented bya good-sized pot of money is too often mis-taken for shared values and a genuine com-mitment to collaborate. Too many coalitionsthat start from large initial grants fold a fewyears later when that incentive goes away.


best for your community—not by the ideas a set of program offi-cers would like to explore. Grant funding also follows trends. Whileyour particular issues or strategies may be in vogue now, this maynot be true in a few years.

There are basically four ways for your coalition to get the resourcesyou need. You can

•Share •Charge•Ask •Earn

Some of the more common approaches to building a diverse funding portfolio follow:

•Local community grants. Many communities are blessed withone or more umbrella funders or local foundations. Local fun-ders such as the United Way and community foundations canset up special funds to earmark donations for substance abuseprevention work. Get to know the staff of these organizations,and do not be afraid to ask about these possibilities.

•Line-item budget allocations. Coalitions can attain more secu-rity if they can convince one or more local government depart-ments or agencies to support coalition initiatives and/orinfrastructure in their budgets. Depending on your communityand the partners involved, this commitment could come froma range of agencies. For example, a parks and recreation de-partment funds positive alternatives for youth; the local healthdepartment may find that the coalition helps it fulfill man-dates; or the police department may recognize that its fundscan go farther focused on prevention rather than enforcementand incarceration.

•Individual and business donors. An essential—and relativelysimple—component of any sustainable coalition’s long-termstrategy is asking people for money. One of the best ap-proaches is to make personal contact with the people withwhom you would like to connect. Find the groups that offer achance to reach a large audience and ask their leaders for anopportunity to talk about substance abuse in your communityand your coalition’s work to prevent it. Business and serviceclubs and local chamber of commerce groups often provideterrific opportunities to connect with leaders and members ofthe business community.


•Fund-raising events. These provide an opportunity to raisemoney and to enhance the profile of your coalition across mul-tiple segments of your community. There are nearly as manytypes and flavors of events as communities to host them.

Large community fund-raising events are a great component of any coalition’s sustainability portfolio because they offer thegreatest opportunity to highlight your coalition’s work to thewidest array of community members. Part of the fun of plan-ning a fund raiser is seeing how creatively and broadly you canuse the venue to raise awareness of your coalition’s work.

•Social entrepreneurship. Nonprofit organizations must exploreways to create goods or services that simultaneously promotetheir message and bring in additional income. Social entrepre-neurship is most effective when it synergizes with your coali-tion’s change strategies. Rather than taking time away fromyour main efforts, find creative opportunities to layer in an entrepreneurial component. For example, you could piggybackon an awareness campaign by having the prevention mes-sages and artwork printed on t-shirts. Since your coalition does not want to get bogged down in running a complicatedbusiness operation, seek ways to cash in on opportunities thatdo not create undue overhead or startup expense. Consider the t-shirt example: The Internet offers services that can pro-duce this sort of “prevention swag” on an on-demand basis,with little setup expense. Rather than laying out money forstock in advance, you can create such items as needed.

•Fees for service. Some coalitions—because of the range of ex-pertise and experience of members are finding that they are avaluable commodity. For example, some groups develop formaltraining sessions to share their knowledge and offer these ses-sions with continuing education units for a fee to organizationsand professionals. Other coalitions create miniature speakers’bureaus, with coalition members who have presentation skills offering talks to schools and other organizations for honorariathat are donated to the coalition.


This list highlights some ways your coalition can build a diversifiedportfolio. Consider:

�Think broadly about resources. Money is an obvious example,but many of your coalition’s needs can be met in other ways. Inparticular, think about what your coalition might obtain throughin-kind donations: volunteer time, technical assistance, space,supplies or equipment.

�Match resources to coalition strategies. Your development efforts can actually do double duty if your coalition thinks creatively. For example, consider a three-on-three basketballtournament one local coalition held as a fund raiser. One strat-egy the coalition wanted to promote was creating more positiverecreational activities and youth-friendly public spaces as an antidote to the boredom that local youth said was a factor indrug use. The basketball tournament was not just an activity to help raise funds for the change strategy, it was a part of thechange strategy itself, because the medium (community basket-ball game) was the message (youth recreation).

The organizers took advantage of every opportunity to synergizethe event with the coalition’s long-term development and com-munication plans. They invited the parks and recreation depart-ment as an organizing co-sponsor, and it provided supplies andequipment. They recruited sponsorships from local businesses,who in exchange displayed banners and merchandise. Localcelebrities served as announcers and referees and the event received positive press coverage. Team sponsor sheets enabledindividuals to set both a base sponsorship amount and an addi-tional amount for every round advanced in the tournament, anddonated prizes went to the winning teams and those who pro-duced the most sponsorships. Everyone had a great time, thecoalition drew a diverse crowd to hear its message and businesssponsors were so pleased by the turnout and well-placed adver-tising that they promised to contribute again next year.

Match resources to strategies based on the gains, requirementsand restrictions of those resources. For example, local grantfunding often is tied to a particular initiative or objective—notthe coalition’s work as a whole. Be sure to counterbalance thisfunding with another strategy that does not carry restrictions.


�You have to give to get. Coalitions often fail to recognize howmuch effort it takes to secure resources. Keep volunteers happyand productive by investing time managing them and providingrecognition for their efforts. Likewise, your coalition needs a sys-tem for donor management and appreciation and to track fun-ders’ reporting requirements.

�Cultivate champions and a base of supporters. Champions arerespected individuals in your community who lend their clout inthe vocal support of your coalition. Having a dedicated group ofchampions can make a huge difference. On the other end of thespectrum, a broad base of supporters and partners of influencein the community gives you a robust foundation for future ef-forts and helps you show prospective funders how much thecommunity believes in your efforts.

Recognizing and meeting constituent needsOne secret to successful resource development is understandingthat various funding and resource strategies draw from differentconstituent groups, and each group has its own interests, goalsand values that it hopes will be served by contributing to yourcause. In short, it is bottom-line return on investment. Your coali-tion’s job is to make every transaction with a funder, supporteror partner a win-win exchange by making sure you support theirbottom line.

Table 2 on page 32 lists the key funding strategies described pre-viously, but highlights constituencies—and their bottom line—foreach strategy. For example, grant makers have many motivationsfor funding particular projects, but at the end of the day most feelsome pressure to show the impact of the dollars they invest. Tothe extent that you can, help them by monitoring, measuring andclearly communicating your coalition’s impact. In contrast, publicagencies also want to know that your efforts are working, but forthem the bottom line is typically efficiency and value. To offerhighly coveted line-item budget support, public agencies and or-ganizations need to know that your work adds a high degree ofvalue to their mission at less cost than it would take them to


create similar value. Business sponsors thrive on the visibility andgood will that public recognition of their sponsorship garners. Ifyou neglect to facilitate this public recognition, local businesssponsors will dry up quickly. As you work with your coalition to review and develop funding strategies, ask, “Who are the mainconstituents for our strategies?” “What is their bottom line?”

Table 2. Key funding strategies for coalitionsFunding type Main constituency Their bottom lineGrants • Local foundations/United

Ways• Private foundations• State agencies• Federal agencies

• Measurable impact thatcan be clearlycommunicated

Line-item budgets • Local public agencies andorganizations

• Efficiency• Value

Donors (individual) • Individual donors at alllevels of wealth

• Identity (gift meshes withsense of who they are)

• Recognition• Tax benefit

Donors (business) • Business donors andsponsorships

• Visibility• Good will• Tax benefit

Fund-raising events • The community at large• Subgroups within the

community

• Having fun• Doing good• Feeling great• Tax benefit

Social entrepreneurship • The community at large ortarget markets within thecommunity

• Fulfillment of individualneeds or desires, includingexpression of identity(product/service mesheswith sense of who they are)

Fees for service • Local organizations orindividual professionals

• Service value• Affordable expertise


“What is the value they get from supporting us?” “Are we doingeverything we can to help them reap this value?”

Organizing for effective resource developmentDeveloping and implementing plans for sustainability is no smallmatter—it involves considerable work. Sustainability is an insepa-rable part of your coalition’s strategy and you need the structuresin place to ensure that sustainability thinking is integral andongoing in your coalition’s larger conversation. Whether you callyour team a sustainability committee, resource committee, or ifyou meld sustainability and external communications into onecommittee, recognize the powerful relationship between the two.Whatever the name, committee members can fill a variety of potential roles:

•Reviewing the coalition’s strategic plan and identifying re-source needs and options

•Developing and implementing plans for raising in-kind andmonetary support

•Monitoring potential external funding opportunities•Developing and maintaining good relationships between the

coalition and external constituent groups•Following coalition progress toward its goals and translating

it into announcements and press releases that can be used toraise further interest in the coalition


CHAPTER 5: PUTTING IT TOGETHER: PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

No time is the wrong time to start thinking about sustainability.Figure 4 on page 35 illustrates how elements of sustainability arelinked with every aspect of the SPF.

�Start with an overall coalition plan. To sustain your coalition’sstrategies clearly spell out what they are and have your mem-bers agree that these are efforts worthy of their commitment.

�Know what the work entails. The strategic plan may provide thehigher-level view, but you must know what kinds of resourcesyou need.

�Scan the environment. Stay apprised of who is in the commu-nity doing work that could mesh with, support or potentiallywork against your efforts. Expect change, and monitor local,state and national trends that could affect interest in and sup-port for your coalition’s work.

�Get over barriers. Examine resistance to your coalition when in-corporating sustainability as an ongoing part of the work. As agroup, discuss ways to rethink this resistance.

�Brainstorm possible strategies. Use the ideas presented hereas a preliminary guide, but do not feel you need to stop there.

What is your policy?

Regardless of the resource development strategies your coalition decides to employ, it is a good idea to decide up front which funding sources are and arenot acceptable to your coalition and community. Local prevention coalitions oftenreceive offers of support from companies representing what one might broadlyterm the “alcohol industry”: alcohol producers, tobacco companies or casinos.Some community coalitions categorically refuse monies from these sources, eitherto avoid any appearance of “sleeping with the enemy” or sending mixed messagesto the community, or because they wish to counteract real or perceived targeting oftheir community by these corporate interests (as sometimes occurs, in particular,with communities of color). Other communities and coalitions have no problemsaccepting these funds. The important thing is to have a clear policy one way or theother, so that your coalition’s efforts are not distracted or derailed by conflict whenpotentially controversial funding opportunities arise.


Figure 4. Coalition Sustainability Cycle

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Brainstorm with your sustainability team the ways your coalitioncan connect your goals to those of others. Then think aboutwhat each of these groups could offer your coalition in terms ofhuman, social and material resources. Finally, think about theopportunities to connect those two pieces.

�Pick a portfolio of the best strategic matches. Begin with oneor two strategies and add others later. Examine how each strat-egy fits your group’s aims. Is it better aimed at one area of thecoalition’s work, or can it be applied more generally? Are thereways to use this approach to secure resources and to raise thecoalition’s profile, increase community awareness or promotedesirable norms? Is this a strategy that could grow year afteryear, or is it a one-shot opportunity?

�Build and maintain relationships. In the end, it is not fund raising but friend raising. Make sure others in the communityknow about your work, and follow up communication with personal contacts among the key stakeholder groups. Developstrategies for grooming sustainability leadership. Provide train-ing for coalition members and volunteers who want to assist inresource development.

� Implement your resource development strategies. Followthrough with your plans and monitor your resource develop-ment. Set visible targets for human, social and material re-sources, and share the progress toward those targets andremaining gaps with the whole coalition.

Creating effective case statements• Your case statement should be in language you would use to explain the topic

to a neighbor or friend.• It should explain why your coalition is needed in your community:

• What are the benefits/what is success?• What would be the consequences of it going away?• Why is the overall topic so important in your community specifically?

• It can be used over and over again with potential donors, volunteers andpartners.

• It explains what resources are required for success.


�Document your impacts. Keep track of your progress and im-pacts formally and informally. This includes formal evaluation of major initiatives and group discussion on activities such astaking time to reflect as a group on what seems to be workingand what is not and documenting lessons learned.

�Watch the coalition around you. Maintaining a strong member-ship base is everyone’s job and a particular concern of coalitionleadership. Members charged with fostering sustainabilityshould be particularly mindful and call to the group’s attentionwhen energy seems to be lagging or new skills, experience orstakeholder group representation are needed. Remember, allthe money in the world will not sustain your coalition if you donot have strong membership and good energy.

�Develop formal case statements, talking points and presenta-tions. You will be more effective at every phase of soliciting support if you have prepared communication tools to sharewhat your coalition is about, why your work is important, whatyou hope to achieve and sustain, and the kind of supportothers can provide. A clear, well-organized approach carriesmore impact and members will be more willing to help sharemessages if they have handy tools at their disposal.


Checklist for developing and implementing a sustainability planThe following checklist suggests activities that your coalitionshould incorporate across its lifespan to develop and implementeffective sustainability plans and practices. A sustainability plan-ning worksheet also is available on the Sustainability page of theInstitute Web site, www.coalitioninstitute.org.

Checklist for sustainabilityIDENTIFY POTENTIAL PARTNERS; BUILD AND MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS: (From the beginning and on an ongoing basis)

� Build and maintain relationships.� Get over barriers.� Scan the environment. � Document and periodically review your impacts.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK: (Concurrent with every coalition planning cycle)

� Start with a good overall coalition plan. � Define what resources the work entails. � Develop your talking points.

DRAFT THE PLAN: (Start in year 1 and update annually)

� Identify what must be sustained. � Identify what resources are required.� Create case statements.� Determine funding strategies.� Identify potential partners. � Develop action plan to contact and present to

potential partners

IMPLEMENT, REVIEW, LEARN, ADJUST

� Implement your resource development strategies. � Review your progress and adapt.


CONCLUSION

This primer has presented sustainability within the overall context of developing an effective coalition capable of creatingand maintaining population-level changes in substance abuserates. True sustainability is not just chasing dollars. Rather, itmeans being very clear about the aims of your coalition and mobilizing your community to join in the effort. Too often coali-tions get sidetracked and derailed by pursuing funds for initia-tives that are not germane to their central purpose. Avoid fallinginto that trap by periodically reviewing your logic model andother planning materials.

Building and maintaining the sustainability of your coalition to achieve its goals is an effort, but other coalitions have succeeded, and so can you. Keep sustainability in mind as an integral part of your coalition’s overall strategy and refer to the action steps described throughout this primer, and your commu-nity will be celebrating your successes and reaping the rewards of your dedication to substance abuse prevention for many years to come.


A word about words

Assess Plan/Implement Evaluate

“The problem is…But why? But why here?”

What you want What you do toget there

Are you gettingthere?

Did you getthere?

•Aim•Goal•Objective•Target

•Activity•Approach• Initiative• Input•Method•Policy•Practice•Program•Strategy

•Benchmark• Indicator• Intermediate

Outcome• Input/Output•Measure•Milestone•Short-term

Outcome•Output

• Impact•Outcome•Results

Build CapacitySustain the Work

Increase Cultural Competence

A WORD ABOUT WORDS

As noted at the beginning of this primer, there are a number ofterms that sometimes are used interchangeably. Often, the differ-ence depends on who is funding your efforts or the field fromwhich you come. The following chart highlights terms that oftenare used to describe the same or similar concept.


GLOSSARY

Administrative Overhead. Costs necessary for operation of a coalition, but notdirectly associated with developing a project or providing a service.

Capacity. The various types and levels of resources that an organization or collaborative has at its disposal to meet the implementation demands of specific interventions.

Coalition. A formal arrangement for cooperation and collaboration amonggroups or sectors of a community, in which each group retains its identity, butall agree to work together toward a common goal of building a safe, healthyand drug-free community.

Coalition Sustainability. The ability to maintain the human, social and materialresources needed to achieve your group’s long-term goals.

Community-level change. This is change that occurs within the target populationin your target area.

Cultural Competence. (1) A set of behaviors, attitudes and policies that cometogether in a system, agency or program or among individuals, enablihng themto function effectively in diverse cultural interactions and similarities within,among, and between groups. (2) A point on a continuum with several guidingprinciples that enable coalitions to have positive interactions in culturally diverse environments.

Diversified Portfolio. Obtaining financial and other resources through a range ofsources, such as in-kind donation of office space from a local Champber ofCommerce and advertising space in the local newspaper, federal and stategrants, foundation

Goal. A statement of intent and purpose that supports the coalition’s vision and mission. For example: “To create a healthy community where drugs and alcohol are not abused by adults or used by youth.”

Human Resources. The individuals that staff and operate an organization ratherthan its financial and material resources. Human resources can—and in coali-tion work generally do—include volunteers.

Intervention. What is done to prevent or alter a result—the means by which onechanges behavior and environmental conditions related to a group’s goals.

Legitimate peripheral participation. Creating multiple-level opportunities forparticipation and the means for less-central participants/partners to fluidlybecome more central over time.


Logic model. Presents a diagram of how the effort or initiative is supposed towork by explaining why the strategy is a good solution to the problem at handand making an explicit, often visual, statement of activities and results. Itkeeps participants moving in the same direction through common languageand points of reference. Finally, as an element of the work itself, it can rallysupport by declaring what will be accomplished, and how.

Material Resources. Those things that can be used to improve the quality ofcommunity life—the things that can help close the gap between what is andwhat ought to be.

Members. Organizations, groups or individuals that agree to affiliate themselveswith the mission of the coalition, participate in coalition meetings on a regularbasis and contribute to communitywide planning and evaluation efforts.

Objective. The specific, measurable results a coalition plans to accomplish and serve as the basis by which to evaluate the work of the coalition. Each ob-jective should have a timeframe by which it will be accomplished.

Outcome. Used to determine what has been accomplished, including changes inapproaches, policies and practices to reduce risk factors and promote protec-tive factors as a result of the work of the coalition.

Partners. Groups or organizations that work with the coalition on specific issuesor projects.

Social Entrepreneurship. Ways to create goods or services that simultaneouslypromote a coalition’s message and bring in additional income. The processmust complement the coalition’s change strategies.

Social Resources. A coalition’s ties to and relationships with stakeholders in-side and outside the surrounding community that enables the group to servean important niche in the community’s “ecology” as it relates to the problemof substance abuse.

Stakeholders. Groups, organizations or sectors of the community with interest in and/or perspective on a common issue, such as reducing substance abuse.

Strategy. The overarching approach a coalition uses to achieve its identified andintended results.


© Copyright 2009 Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) is a nonprofit organi-zation that is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of community coalitions to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-free communities.The National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute works to increase theknowledge, capacity and accountability of community anti-drug coalitionsthroughout the United States. CADCA’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its clients and sponsors.

CADCA® is a registered trademark.

All rights reserved. This publication, in whole or in part, when used for educational purposes, may be reproduced in any form by any electronic ormechanical means (including photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval) without written permission. Please cite CADCA’s National Coalition Institute in references. Reproduction in any form for financial gain or profit is prohibited.

Published 2007, revised 2009 by CADCA625 Slaters Lane, Suite 300, Alexandria VA 22314

CADCA URL: http://cadca.orgTo order CADCA documents or to obtain additional

information, contactTelephone: 703-706-0560, ext. 240

Fax: 703-706-0579E-mail: training @cadca.org

CADCA’s National Coalition Institute is operated by funds administeredby the Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control

Policy in partnership with SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Sustainability Primer: Fostering Long-Term Change to ...€¦ · 2 Sustainability Primer CADCA’s National Coalition Institute, developed in 2002 by an act of Congress, serves as

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